Abandoning Community

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by

Allyson
in

This came up on my Facebook feed this morning. I had to read it four or five times to “get it.” The person who posted this believes (or so I understand) that because unfair-to-Right practices (and frankly, unfair-to-American practices) are being rolled back and gotten rid of, that “they” (presumably the Right and/or Trump and/or Musk) are attempting to destroy “our” (aka the Left’s) communities.

What?

Sweetheart, no one is trying to destroy your communities. You’re welcome to continue using your communities. No one has told you that you can’t. In fact, Facebook allows you to curate a group where you can literally control all the speech therein, so that your Leftist ears need not be sullied by the foul words of the Right.

The only community that’s currently being destroyed, that I can tell, is TikTok. I’m bitter about it, because it’s a place that I really enjoy visiting and I like the platform. And the government is taking it down “to protect us” from something. Apparently we’re to be protected from free speech, but whatever.

I can’t say that these “changes” are things that are just to Left leaning places, either. I decided to log into Truth Social to go see what it was about, maybe make some friends over there. I was on less than ten minutes, did nothing more than say hello in a handful of writing groups and history groups, and then got a ban notice. I have no idea what I did, because it doesn’t tell you. It says “go look at the guidelines” as if I’m a four year old. “You know what you did!” No, Truth, I don’t. I have no fucking idea. Ugh.

Back to the message above. I love the presumption: “WE need these spaces to stay connected.” No, you don’t. Go to a coffee shop. Visit a bar. Read in the park. Enjoy rollerskating or ice skating. What about the library?

I run a writing group on Facebook. I’ve had it up for a few years now, but never paid much attention to it. Recently, I’ve been trying to get it more active. I discovered it was chock full of scammers and spammers. So for the past couple of weeks, I’ve been slowly tossing people out. It’s frustrating. Facebook can ban people for saying positive things about Trump, but can’t take care of the marketing spammer who’s sneaking into people’s DM’s? Bah.

I haven’t seen the above attitude amongst friends, for which I’m grateful. That sense of entitlement doesn’t seem to be infiltrating my own communities. It was definitely a real post, however, and so it certainly represents some people’s beliefs.

Also, what the heck is with the language (or lack thereof) in the post? Ugh.

        

Comments

6 responses to “Abandoning Community”

  1. CBMTTek Avatar
    CBMTTek

    Apparently, it is only “destroying communities” when it happens to them. When they are actively suppressing voices they disagree with, that is OK, in fact, that is good because it supports the “community.”

    All humans are hypocrites to some extent. But, the folks pushing these ideas on social media are the worst. Absolutely zero self awareness. None.

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    1. pkoning Avatar
      pkoning

      There’s also the point that businesses have no duty to support the continued existence of self-proclaimed “communities” that may have sprouted on their platforms in the past.

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      Reply
  2. Birdog357 Avatar
    Birdog357

    “The only community that’s currently being destroyed, that I can tell, is TikTok. I’m bitter about it, because it’s a place that I really enjoy visiting and I like the platform. And the government is taking it down “to protect us” from something. Apparently we’re to be protected from free speech, but whatever.”

    It’s been proven that the Chinese government is using Tiktok for memetic warfare. They have specifically tuned the algorithm to display to American teens extremely harmful material. Including suicide as just one example.

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    1. CBMTTek Avatar
      CBMTTek

      You have to realize the folks that post stuff like this (our community is being destroyed because people we do not agree with are allowed to speak) have no problem worshiping at the altar of the All-Powerful State. That the Chinese are using their “platform” to indoctrinate them is a non-issue in their world.

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    2. Allyson Avatar
      Allyson

      Then let’s make it an adult place rather than for teens. Problem solved. It is not my job, nor yours, and DEFINITELY not the government’s, to protect me from my own stupidity.

      And I’ll be frank… EVERY social media platform (this one included!) has its own metrics that it pushes. Do you really think that Facebook or Youtube or Instagram or Pinterest or all the rest aren’t collecting your data for whatever reason? They all do it.

      When the government steps in, it’s a problem. The Constitution is there to RESTRICT the government. It’s not there to restrict ME. I have the right to go to TikTok (and all the other social media platforms). The government isn’t “protecting” me. It’s restricting my RIGHT to free speech. And if you want to argue that one, I’ll start talking gun rights, because they’re second only to First Amendment rights. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Archer Avatar
    Archer

    What “changes” is she talking about? Meta is getting rid of in-house “fact-checkers”, for good reason: F-book and I-gram became echo chambers because any opinion to the Right of Josef Stalin was “fact-checked” into oblivion, which is the precise opposite of free speech.

    Now, Meta is a private company and has no inherent obligation to uphold the U.S. Constitution or Bill of Rights; they can do what they want. But they (wisely, albeit late, IMO) realized that “fact-checking” half their potential customer base into silence is a losing proposition from a business standpoint.

    But getting rid of in-house “fact-checkers” is a LONG way from getting rid of member communities and private groups. To my knowledge, Meta is not deleting or suspending groups for any reason (other than for real crimes or threats, which they’ve always done).

    So the only thing she’s griping about is that she may see opposing viewpoints in her feed, since there will be no more in-house “fact-checkers” to protect her delicate sensibilities.

    No offense, lady, but boo-freakin’-hoo. (Speaking to “feministajones”, not present company.)

    ———

    RE: TikTok: I don’t use it, but I don’t think the U.S. government should be banning it … except for blocking access on U.S. government employees’ “business” devices, which they can do without banning it nationwide. MDM — Mobile Device Management — is a thing, and allows employers to lock down business-owned and -managed devices. I can’t install unapproved apps or access unapproved sites on my work phone — the normal App Store is blocked, app installs can only happen from the approved catalog, and certain websites are blocked — nor on my work computer without a local administrator password, and if my employer can figure all that out, surely the U.S. government can, too. It’s not that hard, folks. The tools already exist.

    It’s well understood that TikTok feeds information to the Chinese government, but I honestly can’t think of how posting dance videos from rural Nebraska is damaging to national security. Poor taste, maybe, but otherwise harmless.

    No government should be in the business of “protecting” its citizenry from itself. There’s no limit to how far a “nanny state” will go to “keep us safe”. A quote often attributed to Ben Franklin comes to mind.

    Reply

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